Tales of an Unlucky Quidditch Captain
by swanglade37
Summary: Dana Boot details what it was like co-captaining with wild, crazy, insane Potters and Weasleys. A repost of 'Muffins'. Similar style to 'MMP', but shorter.


_They say that, Seers exempt, you never know what your life is going to turn out like. I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. When I was fifteen, I definitely could not have predicted a single part of the life I live now. It was a different time, sure, but my home, my job, my friends and family… I didn't have any idea._

At first, I was thrilled to be the Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. The key words in that sentence are ' _at_ ' and ' _first_ '. Then I remembered who the Captains of the other Quidditch teams were: Potter (Jay, the Gryffindor), Potter (Al, the Ravenclaw), and, since Rosewood graduated in June, Potter (Lily, the Slytherin) was a shoe-in. Despite this only being her fourth year, she was a genius when it came to planning, leadership, and Quidditch. Plus, she'd been a member of the team since her first year. The thought of sharing the Captains' Lounge with three Potters was enough to make me tremble.

My name is Dana Boot. I'm fifteen years old and in Hufflepuff. On September first, I met up with my friends, Jenna McAvoy and Camilla Rivers, and my girlfriend, Isla Smith, at Kings Cross. The year started off pretty well: the Express was on time, and the feast passed without major incident (there wasn't any pudding, some pranksters turned the enchanted ceiling violet, and Hufflepuff welcomed fourteen new firsties). The problems began at the first Captains' meeting of the year, the first Saturday after the feast. I entered to chaos.

Well, not literal chaos, but still. To an untrained eye, it would be a much calmer scene than one might expect from three half-Weasley, half-Potters. There was no re-creation of Grindelwald's War with breakfast foods, nor was there a four-way duel going on despite there only being three of them. There wasn't even a giant-sized Chocolate Frog race. In fact, what I walked in to may have even seemed peaceful to some people.

The first thing I noticed was that they had all beaten me (no surprise, considering I was late). I saw that Jay was writing something on the chalkboard. I couldn't tell what because he was using enchanted chalk. Meanwhile, Lily and Al were playing a game of chess.However, this was, in fact, a rather alarming sight. It was as likely that Jay was planning Quidditch strategies as it was that he was writing rude insults or drawing a piano. Also, all of the Weasleys were as competitive as it was humanly possible to be, so chess matches between two (or more, if they were playing team chess) of them were common, but still terrifying, and probably inappropriate for young children. Plus, they could last for hours.

Jay nodded at me as I came in. He seemed entirely calm, and unsurprised that I was late. He jerked his head toward his siblings and said "We'd better stop them. They just started, and we'll go gray if we let them finish. " He actually pulled out a mirror and looked himself over. I think it was to make sure that he wasn't gray already, but he could have just been looking at himself for the heck of it. With Jay, it was hard to tell.

"I didn't see you guys at breakfast," I said. "Did get any?"

Jay nodded. "Roxie has dragon pox. It's not bad, but Vicky wanted to make sure none of us were sick too. We got the house elves to make us some. Most of it's been eaten, but I think we've still a couple muffins in you feel peckish. It's Boot, isn't it? Dana Boot? Keeper on the Hufflepuff team?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You're friends with my sister Mia, right? She mentions you sometimes. And thank you for asking, but I'm full. How long have you guys been in here?" Now I felt doubly guilty for being late.

He thought about it. "Half an hour, I think. Don't feel guilty," he added after seeing my face. "Lily was going crazy in the hospital wing. If we hadn't gotten her out, she would have done something Vicky would never forgive her for."

"Sounds like your sister." I said. "Although, do they always have early morning chess matches?"

Jay nodded, then frowned. "Well, not always. Lils claims it wakes her up, and Al likes being better at something than Dad, but they're also both extremely focused on schoolwork. There are nights that one of them is up until two in the morning finishing a paper, so the mornings after those are generally chess-free."

"Your dad's bad at _chess_? _The_ Harry Potter? _Chess_?"

"I know, right? Dad's seriously awful at it. Uncle Ron has never lost a match against Dad. At least Al and Lily are fairly evenly matched. Speaking of, guys, Boot's here. Save the conquering of ivory figures for later, please."

Lily spoke. "Technically, these pieces are made out of maple and walnut.

"Save the elephants." Al said halfheartedly.Lily reached across the chess board and whacked him. He whacked her back. I exchanged a look with Jay as his younger siblings fell to attacking each other.He pulled out his wand and shouted " _Protego_!" Instantly, an invisible boundary pulsed into being, separating the squabbling pair.

"You git!" Al exclaimed. "I was about to win!"

"Were not!" Lily was quick to add.

"Was too!"

"Were not!"

"Was t—"

"Children please!" Jay shouted. "Productivity awaits!"

Amazingly, that stopped their bickering. Both Lily and Al turned to their brother. "You're weird." They said in unison. Nonetheless, they stopped their game (and their fight). I picked up a muffin on the way and bit into it. Ugh. Poppy seed.

The rest of the meetings that year were much the same: I'd arrive on time or a little late and the Potters would already be there. There was one memorable meeting in February where they not only were they all precisely five minutes behind each other, but were all covered in various spots, stripes, and splotches. Usually two of them would be playing chess and the third using the chalkboard. There was always food, and I quickly learned that the blueberry muffins with tea were the best combination available. That was also the year I got addicted to coffee. It was a survival tactic, I assure you.

The next year, I was surprised when I walked in. I'd known that Jay had been a seventh year last year, but I had expected his replacement to be the Gryffindor Keeper, Rose Weasley, not a skinny stick of a boy whose name I thought was Morris. To be fair, he looked like a good player (he was a Seeker if I was remembering correctly), but Rose was much more experienced than him. As a seventh year, this would be her fifth year on the team, so I doubt I was the only one who expected her to be Captain. Lily and Al seemed to guess my train of thought when they finished their game.

"Rose declined." Lily explained.

"Said she wanted to focus on being Head Girl and schoolwork this year." Al added. "She even gave up her spot on the team."

"She does want to go into a challenging line of work," Lily said. "but we expect she'll be miserable by November."

"How were your holidays?" I asked.

The brother and sister looked at each other. I sighed. "Guys, I know Mia was staying with you. She was fighting with our parents, not me and Nicky. You don't have to hide that." The fighting had lasted for a week and ended with Mia moving out. The Wizarding Wireless Network kept us well informed about her success with becoming a singer. The pair shared a relieved look. Al leaned forward and began describing their summer activities. Apparently Lily had spent all summer inside her old ballet studio, both teaching and learning. Al, on the other hand, had spent three weeks in Greece with his friends and _no_ _adult_ _supervision_ (an unattainable dream for me, but good on him for convincing his parents).

I could tell that Lily was dying to talk to me, but Al, as the oldest of us, called the meeting to order. We discussed tryout times for our respective teams, charity matches, and the ever-present desire to announce that first years could, in fact, try out as long as they didn't use their own brooms. The arguments put forth were as follows: Morris (turned out his first name was Sam. Lily disapproved. Then again, this is the girl who named her owl Cracker) and I believed that if the firsties knew that they could try out, maybe they would try harder in flying lessons. Lily and Al rebutted that if we held their hands, they'd never learn on their own; furthermore, if they were clever enough to figure out the loophole, then they were probably equals to their possible teammates.

Really, it was one of the most boring meetings I had ever been in. This was probably because Lily and Al were getting along as well as I'd ever seen them and Morris was rather terrified of them. He was unlikely to pick a fight and they hadn't started one on their own.

Lily stopped me before I could leave. "What is it, Lily?" I asked. She looked at me for a moment and then pressed something into my head. Then she left. Like, _really_? All that build up just to _give_ me something?When I realized it was a package, however, my interest was piqued. Especially because it was wrapped in pink paper, and Lily Potter was notorious for despising pink.

I waited until I was in my dorm before opening it. In Lily's loopy writing were two words: _From Lucy_. Suddenly all of the secrecy made sense. Lucy Weasley (now Weasley-Wood) had been my Mentor when I was a firstie. By Hufflepuff law, each firstie is assigned an older student as a Mentor to guide them around and generally look after them. Lucy was mine, and we bonded spectacularly. It was because of her that I met Isla because Lucy's best friend, Savannah Fawley, had been Isla's Mentor. The thing about Mentors was that after the Mentor graduated, they weren't supposed to continue helping their Mentee. Lucy has always been a bit of a rebel, though, and even if she was the librarian now, it was always nice to hear from her.

Meetings that year ranged from boring to sleep inducing. There was one time in December where Al showed up with blue hair, and a meeting in February where Lily was a half hour late, but other than that nothing interesting happened. Samuel Morris had almost no personality, and was absolutely useless when it came to drawing. I heard a rumor that the only reason he was made Captain was because Rose Weasley declined—a decision she almost certainly regretted when Gryffindor came in last place in the Quidditch Cup.

As I walked into the familiar lounge in my seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Lily immediately accosted me. "Please, please, please tell me you know how to play chess!" she begged. I blinked at her. It was eight in the morning and my coffee had not sunk in yet. _Far_ too early for a Weasley attack, in my humble opinion.

"You tried to teach me two years ago," I reminded her. "I'm about even with the stories I've heard about your dad. Why? Can't, um…" I recognized the bright ginger hair near the chalkboard, and ran through my mental list of Weasleys. Victoire through Rose had all graduated, which left Lily, Louis, and Hugo. Lily was standing in front of me, and Louis was a Hufflepuff like myself, which left Hugo. "Hugo play?" Lily let out a short, derisive laugh, as the aforementioned Weasley blushed to a shade not unlike his hair.

"One would _think_ that the son of Ron Weasley would at least be _competent_ in the noble art of chess, but Hugo is about as skilled in the game as a blind, deaf Flobberworm. No wait, even a Flobberworm might occasionally put a piece in the right spot." Hugo shrugged when I looked at him.

He said, "The sad thing is that she's played against Flobberworms and isn't joking." Lily gave her cousin a confused look.

"Why would I joke about chess?" I shook my head.

"Anyway," I said, changing the subject and turning to Morris, "We should get the meeting started. Morris, would you like to introduce yourself?"

"I, um. I'm Sam. Sam Morris. I'm from Gryffindor. I play Seeker."

"Excellent." I said. "I'm Dana Boot from Hufflepuff, and I play Keeper."

"Lily Potter. Slytherin Seeker."

"Hugo Weasley. Ravenclaw Keeper."

"Great," I said. "Let's discuss tryouts. Did anyone bring a hat? You know, to pull House names out of, so we know what House has tryouts when." No one had, so I conjured one. Slytherin was pulled first, then Hufflepuff, then Gryffindor. Poor Ravenclaw didn't get their tryouts until October.

Sam hadn't progressed over the summer as a person, and was as difficult as ever to deal with, but the only reason that mattered was because the synchronization that Lily and Hugo had was insane. She would say something, and he would have a snappy response less than two seconds later. Even Jay and Al had had a bit of trouble keeping up with their sister at times, but Hugo was right there with her. The way their brains functioned… it was incredible. And terrifying. Mostly terrifying.

Other than that, meetings that year weren't really noteworthy. Lily and Hugo had been made prefects the previous year, so they were late sometimes (they also knew every secret passageway Hogwarts had, and they'd almost certainly added to them) but they were always focused. Additionally, it was my N.E.W.T. year, so I couldn't just worry about my team as I had in years past. Professor Rivers had told me in my O.W.L. year that even if I was planning to be a professional Quidditch player, I still had to pass the N.E.W.T.'s that I was taking, but I hadn't listened to her until now. Honestly, I've no clue what Sam did that year. All I know is that Slytherin won the Quidditch cup, but only by virtue of Lily breaking the record for fastest Snitch catch (it took her five-point-three-four seconds).

It's not like I never saw any of the Potter family again after graduation. They showed up at my first Quidditch match as a full member of the Wigtown Wanderers to cheer me on (we even ended up reminiscing for three hours afterwards, almost as long as one of their chess matches). I was at their weddings, and they were at mine. Lily was even kind enough to keep sending me anonymous packages from Lucy every year on my birthday. Six years after I graduated, I sent them a picture of Isla's and my new baby girl, Noelle. I received similar photographs of the eight grandkids that, between them, they managed to give their parents (I always knew they were crazy). However, it isn't like we met up for Butterbeers every month either. I was the only one to go into Quidditch as a career, as Jay and his wife somehow carved out a living growing wand trees, Al replaced Professor Sinistra as the Astronomy professor, and Lily made waves as a Potions inventor (although there were rumors that she and her best friends were the mysterious founders of the Hummingbird-Hawk Broom Company).

 _I will always be grateful to the Potters for teaching me the skills required to deal with people as Quidditch-crazy as myself. Originally, I wasn't sure I would survive my first year as Quidditch captain, and now, here I am, part of the English/Scottish lineup for the one-hundred-and-fortieth International Quidditch World Cup._

 **Okay, so some of you guys may remember the hot mess of a story this was originally. It was one of the first stories I put up, and when I looked back at it a month or two ago, I hated what it was. So, I did what any rational author on this site would have done: I deleted the original story, reworked some things, and made the story (in my opinion) a thousand times better.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy it because it was partially written as a New Year's Present. Happy New Year, guys! See you in 2019!**

 **~swanglade37**


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